About Me

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Day 10

We had a bit of a sleep in until 8:30, which made us hurry as we had a walking tour starting at 10am across town. After some quick showering and no time for breakfast, we were lucky to flag down a taxi in time. Our guide was Guillaume who was a former art student and very knowledgeable about all things Paris. The good thing was that we were the only ones on the tour so we could basically go anywhere that we wanted to so it was tailored for us, which was great because we stopped for a coffee outside the Louvre to have a quick rest and coffee break.

He showed us some of the back streets of Paris, ones that are non-touristy but very beautiful as well the standard beauties such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, which we went into (there was a bit of drizzle around this morning so it was good timing that we were could do this). From there we walked along the Seine up to the Louvre. I can’t get over the size of this place…plenty of tourists there of course. From there we walked to the Latin Quarter which is more of an area frequented by locals with heaps of restaurants, cafes and bars. We parted with our guide and had a late lunch before heading back to the hotel for a rest…Monny’s knee and ankles are starting to swell again from all the walking.

Certainly one of the highlights of the trip so far as we had dinner in the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. We were lucky that our table was next to the window where the sun was slowly setting. The food was tres bon and the view you can see for yourself from the picture below. After leaving the restaurant, the first floor had several areas set up for visitors interested in learning about how the Tower was built and used over the years. There was a tent that was showing how the Eiffel Tower was used in films, showing snippets from some really old films + James Bond, Superman & even Team America. Had some great views from this floor…we didn’t bother to go any higher as it was getting late. Had a leisurely walk back through the Champs De Mars to our hotel, after purchasing the obligatory Paris T-Shirts.